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Content type: Long Read
In 2023, Privacy International continues to produce real change by challenging governments and corporations that use data and technology to exploit us.Since the beginning of the year, we had some significant achievements we're proud of and want to share with you. Take a look below to see how we are changing the world for the better.SpringBetter EU regulation of digital products PI’s continuous advocacy around the Cyber Resilience Act resulted in further adjustment of the proposed text of the…
Content type: Explainer
On International Identity Day, we are highlighting that the technology-driven ID systems being implemented around the world are leading to new forms of surveillance and exclusion.Last September, PI and its global network of partners launched Identity Crisis - a campaign to change the narrative on identity systems. Around the world PI and our partners have seen ID systems creating and facilitating exclusion, insecurity, and surveillance.To learn more, watch our Identity Crisis video, in which…
Content type: Examples
Drivers for app-based companies like Uber, tired of their lack of transparency, share their experience and swap tips to help each other game the platforms to their advantage via in-person workshops and Telegram groups, aided by the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers' Union. Similar movements exist around the world. In 2021, a Dutch court upheld a complaint by Uber and Ola drivers from the UK and Portugal asking those companies to provide…
Content type: Examples
Behind every powerful AI system are huge numbers of people labelling and clarifying data to train it, contracted by companies like Remotasks, a subsidiary of Silicon Valley-based data vendor Scale AI, whose customers include the US military and OpenAI. Often the workers, who are assigned tasks they don't understand for a purpose they don't know, are sworn to secrecy. Yet labelling is crucial; it can make the difference between a car stopping to spare the person walking a bike across the road or…
Content type: Examples
In a legal action, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain and the App Drivers and Couriers Union claim that Uber's use of facial recognition software for its Real-Time ID Check to verify the identity of drivers is discriminatory because facial recognition software is known to be less accurate at identifying people with darker skin. The action was brought on behalf of two drivers whose accounts were terminated following errors made by the Microsoft-supposed facial recognition software.…
Content type: Press release
Today the European Court of Human Rights held the United Kingdom accountable for its digital spying, even when that spying affects people outside of the UK’s borders.In this case, Mr Weider and Mr Guarnieri, both researchers who work on information security and privacy, challenged the lack of access to redress mechanisms for alleged breaches to their rights to privacy and freedom of expression by UK intelligence agencies before the European Court of Human Rights.Mr Weider and Mr Guarnieri…
Content type: Video
Links
- Refuge's Tech Safety resources
- Refuge's Tech Safety smart home devices tool
- Read more about Dr Tanczer and her work
- Find out more about the Gender and Tech at UCL and sign up to the newsletter
- PI's guides to improve your own device security
- UK Member's of Parliament discuss smart tech and abuse
- Connected technology: MPs call on Government to tackle growing problem of tech-enabled domestic abuse
Content type: Advocacy
Our submission focussed on the evolving impacts of (i) automated decision-making, (ii) the digitisation of social protection programmes, (iii) sensitive data-processing and (iv) assistive technologies in the experiences and rights of people with disabilities.
We called on the OHCHR to:
Examine the impact that growing digitisation and the use of new and emerging technologies across sectors has upon the rights of persons with disabilities;
Urge states to ensure that the deployment of digital…
Content type: Opportunities
Background
Big tech companies have become too powerful. They dominate entire markets, deploy technologies that can cause harm and negatively impact democracies, individuals, communities, and only try to mitigate these effects when legally obliged or with strong financial incentives. In their current state, they have the power to shape the tech of the future and cannot be trusted to regulate their activities and prevent harm. Different countries have tried different approaches, either ex-ante or…
Content type: Opportunities
Salary: £39,520 full time and permanent from London office.
Benefits: 26 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), generous workplace pension, wellbeing support, resources for learning & development, and we can offer a modest relocation fund.
Join us: You’re curious about how technologies affect power and shape the future. You’re an advocate who wants to speak out for change with a voice that is both nuanced and engaging. You want to help build an organisation that is always learning. You…
Content type: Opportunities
Salary: £39,520 full time and permanent from London office.
Benefits: 26 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), generous workplace pension, wellbeing support, resources for learning & development, and we can offer a modest relocation fund.
Join us: You’re curious about how technologies affect power and shape futures. You’re an advocate who wants to speak out for change with a voice that is both nuanced and engaging. You want to help build an organisation that is always learning. You want…
Content type: Long Read
In June 2023, the UK government announced its proposal to expand its surveillance powers by, among others, forcing communications operators to undermine encryption or abstain from providing security software updates globally. Building on our response to the government’s plans, this piece explains why what they want to do puts every one of us at risk.
Why your trust (to technologies you use) matters
Surveillance and privacy are complex concepts to grasp – it’s part of the appeal to us at PI.…
Content type: Advocacy
On the 17 January 2023, the UK Home Secretary appointed Lord David Anderson KBE KC to carry out an independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 provides a legal framework for the use of investigatory powers by the UK security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other relevant public bodies. These powers include the interception of communications; the retention and acquisition of communications data and; equipment interference for…
Content type: Advocacy
This was submitted by PI and EFF for the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee, which is due to consider the text in August 2023.
Our submission covers provisions in the chapters related to procedural measures and law enforcement, as well as international cooperation of the proposed UN Cybercrime treaty (full title: Comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes). We also provide general comments on Article 54…
Content type: Advocacy
In June 2023, we made a submission to the Human Rights Committee ahead of its 138th Session in relation to Colombia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
We called on the UN Human Rights Committee to make the following recommendations to Colombia:
The Electoral Law should ensure that the electoral register does not include personal data other than what is required to establish eligibility to vote. The law should define the minimum standards of…
Content type: Video
Links
Send Capita an email
Find out more about the campaign
Watch the full video testimonies
Video 1
Video 2
Content type: Advocacy
Privacy International contributed to the UNSR's report by submitting information on the work we have done as well as our Network of partners as we’ve monitored and responded to developments associated with the use of data and technology in the health care sector by governments and companies.
Content type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI) notes the Bureau’s text of the WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (“WHO CA+”).
PI has sought to closely follow and engage with the discussions leading up to the draft treaty, despite the significant limitations to civil society participation in the process. In February 2023, we intervened during the briefing organised by the INB bureau and published our comments on the zero draft of the WHO CA…
Content type: Advocacy
Background
In August 2022, Amazon announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire iRobot, a company that specialises in designing and building consumer robots. The transaction was formally notified to the European Commission on 1 June 2023, while the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has already launched an investigation into the transaction since April 2023.
We believe that this acquisition is likely to significantly impede effective competition in and…
Content type: People
Tom joined Privacy International as a Legal Officer in May 2023. His work primarily relates to the impact of big tech and new tech on privacy, in particular in relation to health, employment and data brokerage. Prior to PI, Tom has worked within the environmental law sector, at NGO ClientEarth and in the Secretariat of the UNECE Aarhus Convention, and on legislative processes at the Hansard Society for parliamentary democracy.
His education includes a PhD in International Environmental and…
Content type: Press release
Campaigners assembled outside Capita PLC’s Annual General Meeting in the City of London today (Thursday 11th May) are contesting the outsourcing company’s £114m contract to deliver 24/7 GPS monitoring services, used by the Home Office to surveil people without British citizenship.
Capita shareholders were greeted by a circling mobile billboard van and leaflets informing AGM attendees of the grave human rights and health risks associated with Capita’s GPS tracking contract. Charities Bail for…
Content type: Long Read
With the introduction of GPS tracking of people on immigration bail, the UK has recently put GPS ankle tags, and their potential privacy and security issues, under the spotlight. PI has exposed the intrusive nature and shortcomings of these devices through technical explainers and complaints to the UK data protection and forensic science regulators.
But, what better way to understand the risks associated with a device than to actually use one? In order to further consolidate our understanding…
Content type: Video
Links
Human rights abuses including unlawful killings by police, violence at Kenya's 2017 election
Claims of fraud from Kenya's last election
PI and the Carter Center's joint election report
Challenge to the 2022 election result and Supreme Court decision
More about the use of data in elections
Our data and elections checklist
Content type: Long Read
The rise of racist and xenophobic narratives around the world has led to a ramping up of brutal migration control policies. Indefinite detention, pushbacks of boats at sea, or deportation for offshore processing of asylum claims all now form part of the arsenal deployed by some governments to “appear tough” on and provide "solutions" to immigration. A stark example is the UK’s “hostile environment” policy, announced 10 years ago by then Home Secretary Theresa May and designed to deter migrants…
Content type: Advocacy
Privacy International welcomes the aim of the Cyber Resilience Act to bolster cybersecurity rules to ensure more secure hardware and software products. Nevertheless, we note that the proposal put forward by the European Commission contains certain shortcomings which could both hamper innovation and harm consumers who are increasingly relying on digital products and services.
It is essential these shortcomings, detailed below, are effectively addressed by the EU co-legislators through the…
Content type: Long Read
In 2022, Privacy International continued to produce real change by challenging governments and corporations that use data and technology to exploit us. And, we produced substantial impact that directly affects each of us.
Here are a handful of our biggest achievements in 2022.
WE CHALLENGED COMPANIES TO CHANGE THEIR BUSINESS MODELS AND PRACTICES
Regulators in UK, France, Greece, and Italy fined and restricted Clearview AI’s activity
Clearview AI built a massive database of our biometrics, by…
Content type: People
Josie is an Advocacy Officer at Privacy International. She works on our countering authoritarianism and surveillance at borders projects, and on our strategic areas strengthening dignity and democracy.
Prior to joining Privacy International, Josie was a Senior Research and Policy Associate at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) where she focused on human rights in the Gulf, namely the death penalty, political prisoners, asylum and state and corporate accountability. She also…